January 29, 2015

QUIZ: Right-to-work quotes, 35 years ago or today?

The obvious start of our look back at old legislative sessions were the two in 1979 and 1981. These were the two years that right-to-work legislation passed both the state House and state Senate.

The legislation was vetoed by then-governor Bruce King, a Democrat who was a close ally of labor, both times. Neither chamber had the votes to override the veto.

New Mexico Political Report collected some quotes from newspaper stories in 1979 and 1981 as well as quotes from news stories from the past month or so. All are by politicians or labor leaders.

Look at the quotes below and guess if it is from 35 years ago (give or take a year) or from this past month. Unfortunately, there are no quotes from Rep. Nick Salazar, D-Ohkay Owingeh, or Sen. John Pinto, D-Gallup, who both served in the Legislature at the time and still do.

The answers are below the video.

“The bill gives freedom of choice for the employee.”

“The fact is, the people of our state and our nation don’t like to be told to do something.”

“There’s going to be plenty of opposition to this… Unions will stand against it.”

“It’s just an attack on unions.”

“I certainly think it would pass. A majority of House members favor right-to-work.”

“I think right to work in general as an overview allows people to choose how they work.”

“The good jobs that we want are union jobs. That’s where we want to be.”

“New Mexico will lose more of her sons and daughters to other states, in search of a decent job and decent wages.”

“The bill originated from out of state and it should stay there.”

“It is fundamentally wrong to require membership (in a union) in order to get a job … or take money from the paychecks of our workers by force.”

Pencils down, time for the answers.

Rep. John Daly, R-Bernalillo, February 20, 1979, the Albuquerque Journal.

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Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller this week told city police officers to stop the city’s DWI vehicle seizure program. Under existing ordinance, the police department can impound vehicles after DWI arrests, but before the driver has been convicted.

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Joseph Cervantes is the fourth Democrat to declare a 2018 run for governor. An attorney with a background in architecture, Cervantes has served in the state legislature representing Las Cruces for 16 years, first in the House of Representatives before winning an election in the Senate in 2013.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Matthew has appeared as a panelist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ New Mexico Chapter’s panel on covering New Mexico politics and the legislature.
A native New Mexican from Rio Rancho, Matthew’s family has been in New Mexico since the 1600s.